Soul Healing
by The Resident Artichoke
Summary: As Will helped Nico get his dark underwordly powers back, Nico realized that those skeletal butterflies in his stomach rose from the dead and became real butterflies. Maybe three days at the infirmary was a bad idea? Solangelo fluff.
1. Chapter 1

**AN. This is my first time posting here! I hope you all like it. This is three chapter story inspired by a tumblr post that asked the fandom to write a three-days-at-the-infirmary-fanfic like we mean it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything! If I did, Solangelo wouldn't be a thing because I made Nico fall in love with me. Be glad it's not mine ;)**

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><p>Nico thought maybe there were skeletal butterflies in his stomach. That would probably be a good sign. Perhaps he could summon the dead again without dissolving into a dark ball of gas. Nico won't try anyway. If he did vanish into thin air, then he'd be taking that outrageous, tropical print shirt to the underworld with him.<p>

_Damned shirt_, he thought. You'd think if you wore it at war then you'll at least rip it apart.

Nico had thrown it on over his camp shirt, which was full of holes since it belonged to Will when he was a bit younger. He offered it earlier, saying that the camp was running out of supplies. Nico didn't argue. It felt nice to have someone share something with him. It made him feel trusted - even if it was just an old, singed t-shirt.

He glanced around the infirmary. There weren't a lot left, which was good news for him. The person that was nearest to him was four beds away. The guy was quietly moaning in pain, amusing Nico for a few seconds. When he turned his gaze back to the foot of his bed, Will was already standing there, smiling.

"Should I turn the lights off?" he asked him. "I guess children of Hades are allergic to light."

"I'm not usually a morning person... or an afternoon person."

Will chuckled. "I can see that," he said. When he wasn't in doctor mode, Will's voice was almost musical in itself. Well, he was a son of Apollo and there was no question in that. He had met the god before and there was quite a lot of him in Will Solace.

Those skeletal butterflies in his stomach rose from the dead and became actual butterflies. Maybe three days at the infirmary was a bad idea.

"So I just scored you some shirts. I was lucky Jason was there, I didn't know your size."

Jason knew his t-shirt size? Who knew you could get that from one hug?

Will took a chair and spun it around, so he sat with his chin on the backrest. He had a clipboard but he wasn't exactly writing on it, more like drawing actually. His surgeon's shirt was replaced with a white _Pluto is a planet_ shirt. Hades would probably appreciate that.

"Okay, Nico di Angelo, fourteen going on four hundred. Reason of confinement..." he trailed off, tapping his pencil on his cheek. A few moments later, he was chuckling to himself. "-almost fizzled out from shadow travelling and summoning zombies."

"Are you really writing these down?"

Will looked up with a smile. "Nah, it just makes it more official. Anyway, like I said, no underwordly stuff, rest, and stop brooding."

"Excuse me?"

"No brooding," he repeated, with more force in his voice.

Once the three days were over, he would probably get Jules-Albert to run this guy over with a monster truck. Every time they've spoken to one another, Nico had thoughts of either just doing what he says or mutilating his limbs. No one ever told him what to do and when they did, he'd just glare at them to back off and they would. Will Solace wasn't like that. He was a toilet that refused to be flushed.

"Maybe we should get you out in the sun," he mused.

"How will that help me gain my dark underworld powers back?" Nico asked.

Will shrugged. "I don't know. I was just thinking since you were a bit tanned back then."

Nico furrowed his brows. "Back then? Have we met the first time I got here?"

"Come on, man. Don't you remember your first unarmed combat lesson?" Will continued. "You were so excited about everything that you didn't see one of the Ares kids coming at you. That knocked you out for hours. You had to stay here for a night."

Nico knew that happened but what he didn't understand was how Will knew.

"Lee Fletcher, may he rest in peace, was teaching me some stuff. When you woke up, Lee told me to handle you, but I didn't know that I was singing a lullaby instead of a healing hymn, so you kind of got more knocked out."

"Well, I think that's why I can't remember," he said, but truthfully, he vaguely did. That was when he had a dream about Bianca. He thought maybe it was a head injury induced nightmare but it wasn't. He never felt so scared in his life. Although Hazel had mostly healed the wound left by the death of his sister, the initial trauma of actually feeling her die would always be there.

"See, you're brooding again," Will said, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"I'm sorry we can't all be a joyous ray of sunshine," Nico said, turning sideways, snuggling in his pillow.

"Hey, don't do that." Will got up and sat on the bed beside his. "I just wanted to be your friend."

Nico gave a short, humourless laugh. He about to ask why but decided against it. He had friends now, at least that's what he considered Reyna and the rest who were aboard the _Argo II_. Adding Will Solace to that group seemed a little too much but, at the same time, it felt alright.

"I thought you wanted me to rest? Instead of chit-chatting with me, why don't you go to your other patients and leave me alone?" Nico hadn't really intended it to sound that harsh. He was just used to that kind of tone.

"The other patients aren't on the verge of anorexia, Death Boy."

Nico sat up on his bed with a look of sudden anger as he seethed, "Don't... ever... call me that."

Will just stared back, unimpressed. He just lifted his hands in mock defeat. He stood up quickly and ran, almost like he forgot something. It confused Nico for a moment. A few moments later, Will was back with some squares of ambrosia. He handed one to him which he accepted. It tasted like every kind of food exploding in his mouth. Before being trapped in a bronze jar, ambrosia tasted like some sort of Italian dish his mother probably had made for him and Bianca before she died and their memories wiped out.

"I always thought ambrosia was the snickers of demigods," Will said. "You're not yourself when you're hungry," he said, trying to emulate the TV commercial.

The ridiculousness made Nico smile. "You're lucky, I've seen those commercials or else you'd be explaining it to an eighty-year-old."

"You're looking great at eighty. But we have to check on a few things before I finally 'leave you alone'," he said, mockingly. "Give me your hands, Nico."

Nico felt blood rushing to his face. "W-what?"

"Give me your hands," he repeated as if there was nothing wrong with his request.

Nico obliged, breathing out as he reluctantly held out his hands for Will. He took them and for a second, Nico thought he was going to read his palms until he squeezed his hands sending a familiar current of energy down his back. He thought that only happened in those bad romance novels the Aphrodite kids loved to read, but there it was, the famed spark.

"That confirmed my suspicion that you have low blood pressure, but apparently there's something more than that," Will said, shaking his head slightly. "You have some serious injuries, Nico! How could you not tell me? Why didn't you come here days ago? Are you really that suicidal?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Dude!" he exclaimed, not caring about the other patients. He lifted the sleeves on Nico's shirt and revealed several angry gashes on his biceps. "You have werewolf claw marks that looked like they've been stitched up by an Ares kid!"

"Well, actually it was a daughter of Bellona."

Will went around the infirmary, frantic and muttering stuff like 'why didn't I see them before' and 'mediocre first-aid skills'. Finally, he came back with a suturing kit.

"Let's fix this sloppy suturing. Holy Zeus, if this is how the Romans do it, how are any of them still living?"

Nico observed him as he said more insults to the Romans about their medical skills. "You're really a stickler for medical stuff, huh? And Reyna did the best she could under the circumstances."

"You're right. Sometimes, I get carried away with these things. Don't tell her anything okay? She looks like she's the kind of demigod that could arm-wrestle Percy and Jason at the same time and still win."

He thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, that sort of describes her."

"Do you like her?" Will asked, not looking up from his work. The question caught Nico off guard.

"No! I mean yes but not like that," he explained. Next to Hazel, Reyna was one of the few people who he had opened up to. Reyna knew his pains and he knew hers.

"Really?" he teased.

"I don't like girls!" Nico admitted. That surprised both of them. Now, he had to think of something cover that one up. He wished the darkness ate him up already so he could save himself from the embarrassment.

Will smirked. "So you like guys?"

"Solace, I swear when I get healed you'll find yourself in some place worse than the underworld," he threatened. "I don't like anyone."

"Not even me?"

Nico knew he was joking because Will looked up at him, feigned sadness before bursting into laughter. That almost made him laugh as well.

"Is the rest of your cabin as conceited as your father?"

"Mostly. That's what you get for being the child of the hottest god in the known universe. But dad's really cool." He thought about what said but shook it off. You can't really say that the sun god was cool. "He gave us all iPods with unlimited memory."

"That beats a french zombie chauffeur."

"No, I think that's awesome. Dad won't let us use the sun chariot. I guess he got a bit traumatized with what happened to Phaeton, my half-brother from long ago. Now, that dude was conceited."

Will finished his stitching. Nico had to admit, it did feel better. It looked less swollen and red. There was no doubt that Will had healing hands.

"Wow, thanks."

"Anything to make you look more human."

He doesn't seem to get tired of smiling. With a smile that brightened up the whole room, who would get tired? He was a toned down version of Apollo.

"Okay, I think you've said all your jokes about me."

"Just my son of Hades jokes," he said. "Do you want to hear my Italian jokes?"

"I'd rather not. You might find yourself being yelled at in Italian."

Silence followed. That's a first, Nico noted. Maybe he finally said something that would make him back off. It made his mind whirl when he realized, he didn't want him to. It was funny how he, who relished silence and solitude, didn't want that anymore - not from him anyway.

"So are like friends now or something?" Will asked, his voice filled with uncertainty.

Nico shrugged and then grinned, the effort straining his face but he couldn't complain. "I thought we already were?"

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><p><strong>Liked it? Hated it? Found any heinous grammatical crimes? Please leave your thoughts in a review!<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

"Nico," someone called from above him.

It was early in the morning. A little too early. Nico didn't need a watch or even look outside to know that.

"Nico, are you asleep?"

"No, I'm pretending to die." He groaned and blinked his eyes open. "What in Hades' name is your problem?"

He was suddenly faced with two blondes, one was Will and the other was a little girl somewhere around six years old. The girl was giggling, causing the tray in her hands to shake. Will noticed this and took the tray out of her hands. Both of them were in their pajamas.

"I brought you some breakfast," Will said as he laid the tray of food on his lap. He bent down to the size of the little girl and gave her a high five. "Thank you, Kelly. Now, run back to the cabin before someone notices you're gone. I'll be back later."

Kelly nodded. She then turned to beam a smile at Nico and happily skipped away.

"That was my half-sister by the way, the youngest in cabin seven." Will sat down on the bed beside his and continued, "That kid has a major crush on you, you know? She thinks summoning zombies is cool. She heard me get up and started following me around. I didn't have the heart to send her back."

"She's um... cute," She reminded Nico about himself back when he first met Percy. He had been so amazed by how he handled that manticore. Did he really use to think that Percy was the greatest thing since sliced bread? Looking back, he realized how ridiculous his feelings for him used to be. He pushed his thoughts back and focused on Will. "But why didn't you just wait for me to actually wake up before bringing me breakfast? I'd appreciate you not disrupting a little girl's sleep... and mine."

Will smiled. "I devised a diet plan with the Demeter cabin's head counselor. Trust me, this is going to prevent you from blending in with your skeleton friends."

"And how is waking me up at this hour going to help me gain weight?"

"Don't question my genius," he said, pointing a finger at him. "I'm the doctor, not you. Although, I'm not sure if I got it all. Miranda's great but ask her about nutrition and she starts rattling off about the food pyramid."

Nico looked down at the tray, his stomach appreciating the sight. It had a bit of everything. He couldn't see where the diet plan was in all this but he was grateful. He wondered if Will had chosen it for his sake because he didn't know what his preferences were.

"That cinnamon roll has my name on it though," he said, before taking the pastry and biting into it. "Eat up, man. I went through a lot of trouble with the wood nymphs to get those."

"I didn't ask for any of this," Nico pointed out.

He licked his fingers and said, "Stop complaining and just eat, capisce?"

"I'm a real Italian, so don't 'capisce' me, Solace."

Nico shoved a forkful of scarmbled eggs in his mouth as he tried not to look like an emaciated vagrant finally getting a taste of real food. It was quite a lot of food. He didn't know if he could get through all of it and of course there was the added pressure of being watched.

"Miranda said to gain all that weight back, you have to eat more often. She also said something about protein and iron so I guess that means more meat. That's the bacon but since I don't want you to die of a heart attack I got you some-"

"Will," he said, catching his attention. "I get it. It's not like I have an eating disorder. I just went a long time without eating."

"Yeah, what have you been doing, anyway? Besides jumping from country to country. Didn't you have time to eat at all?"

Will didn't know what he was asking. No one got to tell him that Nico fell into Tartarus and then got stuck in a bronze jar for days with only pomegranates sustaining him. Nico thought it was better that way, that only a few people knew about Tartarus. He didn't expect himself to talk to anyone about it. He couldn't even tell his sister everything.

"Europe doesn't accept drachmas," he joked.

"Care to talk about your adventure? I've been stranded in the infirmary and no one is telling me things anymore. I tried to ask Percy what happened but I got the feeling that he wasn't telling me everything. I asked Piper and Jason but they only told me what I already knew."

Nico looked at him, his blue eyes gleaming with curiosity. "That's just it. Reyna, Coach Hedge, and I shadow travelled across Europe and fought monsters."

"Besides the shadow travelling, that can't be that bad."

"What?" Nico asked, outraged. He knew that this would happen. Once again, no one cared that he just attempted a dangerous feat just to save them all.

"I'm trying to understand what happened to you. Come on, you weren't there when they took on all those giants. You're not even-"

"Part of the prophecy?" he completed. "You don't know what I've been through."

"I'm sorry," he gently said.

"Look, I've done what you've said," Nico showed him the empty tray. "And now I'm tired. I'm grateful for everything but if you could just leave me alone that would be great. Come back or whatever, I don't care. I just want to be alone."

"But Nico I wasn't saying that-"

He cut him off. "I get what you're saying. Just do me a favor and leave already."

They stared at each other expressionlessly. Will took a sharp inhale and walked away without another word. He didn't even look back as he shut the door behind him. Nico fell back on his pillow with a hand to his chest, feeling the erratic drumming of his heart. What he was feeling was not easy to clarify. The larger part of him told him that what he did was right, that he should stop doing whatever it was he was doing before his feelings for Will delved any deeper. However, the rest of him, the part that was closed off and had just recently reopened, told him otherwhise.

He understood one thing though. No matter what Jason or even Will Solace said, he was never ever going to fit in. His efforts were unrewarded. It wasn't like he was asking to be immortalized. He wasn't Percy, who had an unexplainable need to become the hero. But it wouldn't kill to be recognized from time to time. That would never happen because he was the creepy son of Hades that was born eighty years ago.

He looked outside the window and saw that the sun was starting to rise. He covered his face with his blanket and decided he would just sleep the second and third day away. Whether he got a decent night of sleep wasn't his choice though. Sometimes, he would wake up in cold sweat from nightmares of the things he'd seen in Tartarus. He could almost feel the sulfurous air choking him, showing him how his mother and sister died.

Nico sat up on his bed, panting for air. It seemed like he fell asleep for an hour because the sun was already out and so were several other campers.

"Tartarus, huh?"

He blinked a few more times before Percy's face came into focus. "Um... yeah."

"Annabeth gets them too, but I guess your dreams are much worse."

"You've been there longer than I have," Nico pointed out.

"Still, you were there alone. That's terrifying, man," he said. Percy sat on the edge of the bed, his hair dishelved and there were traces of syrup on his mouth, telling Nico that he just had breakfast.

"So," Nico started. "Are you here to talk to me about what I said to you? I told you Percy, it's over now."

"No. But honestly, I was a bit shocked but it's all cool," he said. "You see, Will Solace went up to me and Annabeth yesterday and asked about what happened. I realized that even with Annabeth, I couldn't bring myself to talk about it with the people around here. I just wanted to see how you were doing."

"I'm fine. It's just the dreams, they won't hurt me anyway."

"Annabeth's coming over. She thought maybe, the three of us should talk about Tartarus. You know, as a way to move on. Like a demigod support group. It should be... fun, I guess."

Nico rolled his eyes. "Yeah, fun."

A few moments later, Annabeth walked in. With her new set of clothes and her hair down, Nico would have thought she was a regular teenager but as she got closer, her stormy eyes said otherwise. She sat next to Percy and interlaced her fingers with his. Jealousy stabbed him but it wasn't because of either Percy or Annabeth.

"Hey Nico," she said cheerfully. "Still can't shadow travel?"

"I can but I'd dissolve into thin air if I tried."

She chuckled. "I was just by the Athena Parthenos. She looks like she loved being there. Shadow travelling with a forty-foot statue isn't a walk around the park. I mean, you got it here without a single scratch."

He was never going to tell her about the time it laid sideways across a Roman temple in Portugal.

"I think we should start. Nico needs his rest," Annabeth said.

"Hi, my name is Perseus Jackson and I went to Tartarus," Percy said, gaining a hard punch on the shoulder from Annabeth. "Sorry, I was just trying to lighten things up."

After a short couple's argument, they gave Nico a look asking him to begin. Nico shook his head and said, "Me? Why should I be first? You're the ones who wanted this."

"Yeah but you were the first one there," Percy said.

Annabeth shot Percy a look that said, _watch it_. "Alright, ladies first."

She began talking about how they fell and what it felt like. Soon, the three of them were speaking, solemnly but still speaking. Even Percy couldn't sneak a joke in between their discussion. They spoke about what they heard being whispered in their ears, the monsters that they encountered before that suddenly became ten times stronger and the dreams they had. When they thought everything had been spoken, Nico breathed out and decided to tell them one more thing.

"When the two of you fell down there, I could feel your lives draining dangerously low and then you'd be okay for a while but it just keeps on repeating. I-I could even feel where you were. It was maddening. It felt like I was there too."

Both of them were shocked by his revelation. They knew Nico could sense the dead and track a person he knew in the underworld but they didn't know it was the same for Tartarus. The couple looked at each other, a worried expression on their faces, and seemed to communicate wordlessly.

"Nico, I'm so sorry," Percy said. "I knew I asked a lot from you when I told you to lead them to the House of Hades, but I didn't know this."

Annabeth shifted closer to Nico, leaned down and placed a kiss on his cheek. "You're a real hero, Nico."

"You don't have to say that, Annabeth. I'm not part of the prophecy."

"True but you didn't have to be. You could have been a normal," she paused. "Well, as normal as a demigod could be but you were always there, helping us defeat Kronos and now Gaea."

Nico just nodded. At first, he did it to make his father proud of him but there was a something inside him that told him that Percy needed his help. He and Annabeth were the first demigods he met and he cared for them. It was only then when he realized what he sought to gain from all of it. He lost his sister almost too quickly and he didn't remember his mother that much. Nico wanted a family. That's probably why he accepted Hazel easily. He found something similar to that in his friends.

He remembered eating blue birthday cake at Percy's fifteenth birthday. Annabeth and Percy didn't treat him like an outcast. They didn't even treat him like a child trying to blend in with the big kids.

"Having a 'we survived Greece' party without us? Not cool man," Jason said, coming in with Piper.

Piper held up an assortment of food and smiled. "It's not from the cornucopia but it's good."

At one point, when they all started laughing, Nico joined in. He could have sworn that Piper took a double take. They talked about Leo but they didn't let themselves dwell on his death. Leo wouldn't want that. He'd find them all down in the dumps and be like, _step aside, peasants, Leo Valdez, life of the party is here._

The door opened again. At that point Nico was fairly sure that his heart stopped beating for a few seconds before restarting as if he had just outran a pack of werewolves again. Will Solace headed towards them.

"Hey guys," he said. "These aren't in your approved diet plan, di Angelo."

Piper stood up suddenly. "Jason, we have to go. We have a thing, remember?"

"What thing? We don't have a-" Jason said before Piper whispered something in his ear. He looked at Will before switching his gaze over to Nico. He nodded in agreement. "Yeah that thing! We totally have to do that thing now, Pipes. Percy, Annabeth care to join us?"

"What are you talking about?" Annabeth questioned.

Jason turned to face Percy. "Come on, man. I'd totally beat you at that thing."

Percy laughed and said, "If I knew what that thing was, I'm pretty sure I'd beat you, Grace."

"So what are we waiting for? Let's do that thing!" Piper said as she ushered a confused Annabeth out. "Bye Will. Bye Nico, get well soon!"

Nico stared after them. Piper, being the daughter of Aphrodite, must have sensed something. He groaned as he watched Percy and Annabeth listening to Piper intently outside the window. They disappeared before he could see their reactions.

"What was the thing they were talking about?" Will asked.

"No idea," Nico lied smoothly. "What are you doing here, Solace?"

"I came here to apologize. Nico, I didn't know. I'm so sorry. I was insensitive. I-"

Nico cut him off. "What are you blabbering about?"

"You were in Tartarus," his voice shook, as if he still had a trouble believing that. "I didn't know. I'm sorry. What I said was wrong."

"Who told you about that?"

"I overheard it from Percy and Annabeth earlier. I wasn't spying or anything, I was just there, checking the Athena Parthenos out," Will explained.

Nico nodded. As he felt Will's hand on his shoulder, he shrugged it off and tried to ignore him.

"You have to talk about it some time, you know?"

He sighed. "We were talking and then you just had to show up."

"Well, I'm sorry," Will said. "I'm sorry that I care about your health."

"You don't have to!" Nico said exasperatedly. "No one asked you to-"

"To what? To care? Do you think I wanted to be this way? My life would be a million times easier if I didn't think about you. But I do and I didn't get to choose that."

Complete silence fell on them as Will took a small step back, complete shock overcoming his face. He hadn't meant any of it to slip out. Nico couldn't believe what he said either, but he kept his face blank. Will looked like he was internally murdering himself, as he ran his hand through his blonde hair. Then he straightened up and looked at Nico again.

"You know what? This isn't my problem anymore. It's yours," he said, pointing at Nico.

A dangerously bright light radiated off of Will's body. It was like he was blinding him with anger.

"If you just let people understand you-" his voice drifted off, the light around him shining brighter and brighter. "No, I think I do understand you. You're the type of person who's desperate for affection but when someone blatantly gives it out, you push them away. You're so stuck up in your self-pity party that you just don't see when someone is genuinely interested in you."

Will stopped, his shoulders untensing as the light got dimmer. They didn't speak but by the satisfied gleam in Will's eyes, Nico realized he knew that he was right. After a moment, he stormed out the door.

Nico let out the breath he didn't realize he had been holding. The two other demigods who shared the infirmary with him stared, startled and a bit dazed from sleep. When he turned towards them, they averted their eyes in a pathetic attempt to pretend they weren't watching.

With a frustrated growl, he hid beneath the covers, ignoring the pain from his injuries and pretended to be asleep the rest of the day.

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><p><strong>Hey! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, followed and favorited! I didn't even think anyone would read it! Still think it's cute? I'm quite unsatisfied with this chapter. Nico was hard to write.<strong>

**I always send a pm to everyone who has reviewed so if you have questions or simply want to fangirl over Solangelo, please review!**

**Thoughts? Favorite lines?**


	3. Chapter 3

Nico woke up to the smell of scrambled eggs flying towards his face.

Instinctively, he raised his hands up his face and then the eggs splattered all over his bed. He sat up, flicking bits of food off his shirt, and saw Annabeth helping Piper up. There were more food on the floor, suggesting that they were supposed to bring him breakfast.

"Nico, I'm so sorry!" Piper said as she cleaned up the mess on the floor. "We wanted to surprise you."

Annabeth took his blanket and shook the eggs off. "I guess we did," she said, dryly.

"At least the nectar is alright. I'll just get more food later," Piper said, handing Nico a glass of nectar with a bendy straw and an umbrella.

Nico took the umbrella out and took a sip. It was finally the third day. The claw marks didn't look bad and he didn't feel like he was floating anymore.

"So are you feeling better enough to leave the infirmary?" Annabeth asked.

He nodded and cleared his throat, surprised by how dry it was, even after drinking.

_"I feel like I could leave now,_

_I feel like I could take on a huge cow,_

_Maybe one that I would chow,_

_And then I'll take a bow."_

His hand, which still smelled like scrambled eggs, flew to his mouth. Did he just recite a poem about eating a cow? He slowly lowered his hand and furrowed is brows. That was impossible. Why would he even do that? Nico glanced up and saw both girls shaking with laughter. His eyes widened in realization. Oh gods, he did!

"Which Apollo kid did you tick off?" Annabeth said finally, laughter-induced tears gleamed in her eyes.

_"Roses are red,_

_Foxes are clever,_

_Tick off an Apollo kid,_

_I have never."_

Annabeth bit her lip to suppress a chuckle. "I guess that was kind of better. But are you sure you haven't insulted one lately? This won't wear off for a while," Nico looked at her with a horrified expression on his face. "But you could ask the one who did this to uncurse you."

"What about Will Solace?" Piper said.

"What about him, Pipes?"

Piper looked at Nico as if she was asking his permission to go on. Nico groaned and collapsed head first on his pillow. The very second he gets off his bed, that Will Solace was as good as dead. He racked his brain for places he could rent a monster truck for Jules-Albert to run him over in.

"Wait - do you like Will, Nico?" Annabeth asked.

Nico was tempted to answer but shook his head instead of saying another pathetic poem. He did have strong feelings for Will Solace but it was currently those relating to murder.

"Come on, you can't lie to us. I sensed the tension between the two of you yesterday and Annabeth's super smart. Just tell us," Piper said with a hint of charmspeak in her voice.

The girls looked at him pleadingly. He winced as he recited another bad poem.

_"Hand me some paper you,_

_And perhaps a pen or pencil too."_

Piper ran off. A few moments later, she appeared with some pink stationary and a feathered pen. "It was all our cabin had. They are not mine."

Nico and Annabeth looked at the writing materials in disgust. "Maybe I should have been the one to get them." Annabeth said. "Anyway, you like Will, don't you?"

He closed his eyes as he tried to separate his anger from what he had felt just yesterday. The skin from his neck to cheeks started to get a bit warm. There would always be a strange swell in his heart whenever he see or even thought of Will. He was annoying, that was a given fact, but he was one of the few people who pushed in with almost the same effort he made to push people out. That and he was probably the only person to not fear him and his powers.

Ignoring the pink feather that danced on the pen, Nico wrote, _what if I do?_

He passed the paper to Annabeth, who shared it with Piper. "What do you mean? If you like him then you like him. You can't really choose who you would like. We won't judge you."

"And it's the twenty first century. You don't have to hide," added Piper.

There was that word again...hide. It was the terrifying sense of déjà vu that overwhelmed him. He remembered running away from Camp Half-Blood all those years ago. He remembered a scared Jason speaking to him in Croatia, probably from the dramatic ghostly effects on his part but determined to get him out of the shadows.

"I'm not going to lie, Nico. Whatever you're going through, this is hard. I don't pretend that I understand. I just want you to know that Percy, Piper and I will be there for you."

"And Jason," said Piper. "If he knew then-"

Nico lifted a hand to stop her. Piper looked at him warily as if he would start spitting out bones and darkness. He sighed and went on to write, _he knows since Croatia._

"You mean when you talked to Cupid?" she asked.

"Stupid Cupid!" Nico exclaimed. If the rest of them resented Hera, then he found his own, personal Hera in the love god.

"At least that rhymed," Piper said, chuckling. She probably found it amusing how less intimidating the son of Hades was when he was spouting out horrible poetry. "If you don't mind me asking, what did you do to get Will this mad at you anyway? Yesterday, he didn't seem angry."

Nico looked down on his lap as if he could find an answer within the wasted scrambled eggs. His handwriting looked like dyslexic ancient Greek. Putting it into words made him realize how hurt and angry he was. He did have feelings for Will. He was sure of that. It was just the idea of revealing his secret self to him that terrified him. What if that was all that he was? A broken son of Hades? He was so distracted that he accidentally poked a hole through the paper.

He gave it to the girls. He didn't write everything down to simplify things. Still, he got exasperated looks from both Annabeth and Piper.

"Look Nico, it took such a long time for me to get to know you and even now, I'm still discovering new things," Annabeth held his gaze. "Will's right. Trust him and start talking about this whole thing. There's no better feeling in the world than to lay down your burden and have someone who cares to carry it for you."

Nico looked at her, confused.

"Oh boys. Even the gay ones are clueless," Piper said, lightly slapping a palm on her face. Nico shifted in his bed. It was the first time he had been given _that _label. "You like Will and he more or less likes you too. The reason why he cursed you is because you've been oblivious to everything he's been doing for you. All he wants is to get to know you!"

Suddenly, he was being pulled up to his feet. Without warning, Annabeth threw his shoes at him. He clumsily caught them with a groan as they hit his chest. He threw a demanding look at Annabeth.

"No questions. You're going to apologize to Will Solace."

_"What did you say?_

_I have to apologize today?_

_But if-"_

"Shut up, poem boy," Annabeth said.

Nico huffed indignantly and put his shoes on. Ignoring the rainbow dots that frolicked in his vision, he let the girls drag him off. Despite the sun shining too brightly, it was nice to get out of the infirmary. He imagined campers staring at their direction wondering why he hasn't gone yet but, to his surprise, no one was looking at him. They passed by Percy and Jason who were showing two new campers around. They waved and left the kids to the Stoll brothers, who were already starting to pickpocket the youngest boy.

"Hey man, you're back from the d-" before Percy could finish, Annabeth elbowed him in the ribs. "Ow. Okay, I know. Bad joke."

"How are you feeling, Nico?" Jason asked. "I asked Piper to bring you some breakfast."

_"Piper is a girl from cabin ten_

_Who was asked to bring me some food when_

_While all havoc broke out_

_Scrambled eggs flew about_

_And the eggs just went to my face then."_

There was a dead silence. Jason and Percy stared at him like he suddenly grew another head and then they started cracking up. Nico wanted to bang his head on the nearest cabin.

"Man," Percy said, trying to catch his breath. "Which Apollo kid did this to you?"

"Apollo kids could make people talk in limericks?" Jason asked just recovering from his fit.

"Couldn't Romans do that too?" Percy asked. Jason shook his head. "You should have seen the last time-"

"Guys," Piper interrupted. "Do you know where Will Solace is?"

"Will? We just saw him. He's teaching archery," Jason said, pointing over to the fields.

"Good because Nico-" Piper locked eyes with Nico who gave her a pointed look. "N-Nico got him angry."

Annabeth turned towards him. "Do you want us to come with you?"

Nico shook his head and waved goodbye. He just hoped no one came up to talk to him. Being laughed at was getting pretty tiring.

Only once had he ever stepped on the archery field but he trusted things didn't get moved a lot in camp. It had only been him and Chiron then, vainly trying to cheer him up while Bianca was away. Now, it all seemed less daunting even with the number of new campers. He saw Will instantly and his heart faltered.

Will gave a high-five to one kid who almost hit him. He casually ducked when an arrow came dangerously close to his head. It was strange to see Will actually teaching. Nico knew head counselors did teach new campers but Will was just around his age yet he had responsibilities that tied up to those of the older campers'.

Eventually, he saw Nico, hiding behind the shadow of a tree. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Will looked away.

"Alright guys," he said. "Time to wrap up."

When it was just him, Nico decided to approach him. He was picking up arrows, avoiding him. Nico sighed and picked some arrows up. He went to Will and handed them to him.

"If you want me to lift the curse, I'm not doing it," he said.

Nico nodded. He had expected that.

"Look Nico, I'm busy. It will wear off before lunch, I swear."

He could have left. He could have went straight to his cabin and waited until the curse wore off. Instead, he stayed, picking up arrows with Will Solace. When every arrow was placed away, Will turned around and left Nico. He ran up in front of him and held up a hand.

"What do you want? I told you it will wear off," Will shoved pass him.

In a desperate attempt to get him to stay, Nico lunged after him, grabbing his hand. He felt the static shoot up his hand stronger than ever before. Will turned, unsuccessfully masking the surprised expression on his face. Nico held his gaze, determined to look at him right in the eye - to not hide.

He cleared his throat and said,

_"I've been a fool, you see,_

_Will Solace, could you forgive me?"_

He took his hand away. "S-sure, man. I guess I'll see you around."

Gods, he's not making this any easier! Nico had enough. Patience was never his virtue. He stomped his foot on the floor and yelled,

_"Roses are red,_

_Violets are blue,_

_Will Solace,_

_I like you!"_

"W-what? Wait- don't speak. Let me just..." Then he started singing. It was an ancient Greek hymn that didn't make any sense. Like someone decided to randomly choose from the dictionary while writing lyrics. But that didn't matter. Will had the voice of a million tiny angels. "There. You should speak normally now."

"I-I..." he found himself at lost for words. "So yeah. And thank you."

"You like me?"

He wasn't expecting the tone of surprise and awe in his voice. Nico just nodded, uncertain of how things should go on. Blood was already freezing in his veins. Still, he coaxed himself to go on.

"I know I've been difficult to deal with. That's just me, I'm not used to real people."

Will groaned. "You can't use that as an excuse. Come on, death boy, what's your real problem? You do these amazing things to make people like you but when they finally do, you run away. What are you running from anyway?"

Nico couldn't speak. Those were the questions he was afraid of. His minds kept giving him reasons to justify everything he has done, but they weren't enough.

"Nico," Will said softly. "I just want to know because I like you too."

He managed a small smile but it faded almost as soon as it appeared.

"I-I'm afraid to tell you who I am. Because what if it freaks you out?"

"Try me," Will said, smiling.

It all pointed back to his relationship with Bianca. He thought she loved him but she joined the hunters without a single thought of him. When he finally got through that - when he realized he'd been selfish for hating her decision, she died.

He thought that if he got too close to people, they'll see something they don't like about him and leave. That was what Nico was afraid of. It was just either he cared for the person or not, there was no in between. He treated friends like family. And he couldn't bear it if he lost someone like how he lost Bianca again.

"Hey, it's alright."

Will reached out and wiped away a single tear. He didn't even know he was crying.

"I didn't want to burden you with this. But it became quite clear to me, especially this last day, how used to your company I've become."

"Nico, I don't want you to think that you're burdening me," Will said, placing his hands on his shoulders. "You have to place all these on the wings of a butterfly and let it fly far away."

Nico smiled. "How artistically vague."

"That's the rule with art. No one should understand it at first," he said, smirking at him.

There was a silence between them. Nico knew he had one thing more to bring up.

"About Tartarus though-"

"You don't have to say anything. I mean, eventually you'll have to tell me everything but I realized that was the flaw in my plan to get to know you. It's like overwhelming a person who is used to small portions of food with a buffet. And you're still quite unhealthy."

He can't believe he just compared him to an anorexic again. He didn't answer though. The last thing Nico wanted to do was to make Will Solace more annoying than he already was.

"So you do like guys!" Will teased.

"Only one guy in particular."

Will leaned down, lowering his head to accommodate their height difference and captured his lips. Nico couldn't react at first, staying still as one of Medusa's victims as he kissed him sweetly. When Will didn't get the reaction he wanted, he took his hands and gave him a soul-healing kiss. Nico almost forgot his own name.

Everything came back to him when he felt Will gently squeeze his hand.

"Are we a-" Nico started.

"A thing? Why yes we are." He frowned suddenly. "If you want to be, that is. I wouldn't want to-"

Nico cut him off with a chaste kiss. "Of course, I do."

Will stared at him, dumbfounded. Nico had to admit, he did surprise himself as well.

"Now, don't get this all in your head. We may be together but I'm still the doctor. No, shadow traveling because if you die, I'm totally going all Orpheus on your father."

"My father already has a room made for me, with monk skulls and all. I'm fine with the underworld."

"But I play a mean lyre solo! I'm not stupid like that guy. I won't turn around."

He imagined Will going to the underworld, trying to lead his soul back while Total Eclipse of the Heart plays in the background.

"Maybe not as stupid," Nico said.

Will laughed and he laughed with him, unforced and unconstrained. Whatever it was that Will Solace had done to him, it was soul-healing - like the kiss.

* * *

><p><strong>Here we are! The last chapter! Thank you so much for reading! I had so much fun writing this and reading all your reviews! I might have told some of you guys that I would update days ago, but I was kind of busy with some school work.<br>**

**I might make a longer and sadder Solangelo fanfic but I'm not making any promises...Sadder because there will be a girl who gets between them because of reasons that are too complicated to discuss. Yeah, I might. I'm currently working on a Wicked fanfiction and an original story. I also have ideas for a Draco/Hermione story and a Loki/Sigyn story, which will probably stay ideas.**

**But seriously I was blown away by the views! I know a lot of you are Filipinos too, you know ;) ****You can leave a review in Filipino! Heck, you can review in Pig Latin and I'd still love you!**


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